Bob Leo

Bob Leo

BOBCAT

Bob Leo is a beautiful and sweet bobcat who lived his whole life with a family, which also included three domestic cats. He was purchased as a kitten for the family’s young son. For 8 years, “Leo” lived indoors with his family and lounged on the couch, just like his other cat pals. Life wasn’t all fun, however, as he was confined to a large dog crate when the family was sleeping or at school & work. They brought “Leo” to Shy Wolf Sanctuary in February 2011. He had a difficult time adjusting to his new environment at first. He was very depressed and refused to eat anything. We thought it was due to his habitat being between wolves & a cougar.

The Naples Humane Society had a large domestic cat named Boomer who was deemed unadoptable, but got along well with other cats. So in March they allowed us to place Boomer with Leo as a companion. When that had no effect, Leo’s old pal Timmy (a Bengal) was brought over. Leo still refused to eat and was wasting away in front of our eyes.

He was seen several times by our veterinarian and received a clean bill of health each time. It was finally decided to send him to Gainesville to a wildlife veterinary specialist. A spinal tap and $2500 later we found out that he had a Thiamine deficiency (B1), which can result in anorexic symptoms. We were able to administer B vitamin shots and switched him to a more natural (for a bobcat) diet of live mice. It was a tough adjustment for our volunteers, but Bob Leo has rebounded and is finally warming up, even rubbing heads with some volunteers.